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Rapist, Abductor Given 2 Life Sentences

Man Abducted 3 Women In 6 Days; 1 Woman Run Over Trying To Escape

POSTED: Thursday, October 1, 2009

He attacked, abducted and raped women who he found in the parking lot of a Jacksonville hospital.

On Thursday, that convicted rapist learned he'll be spending the rest of his life in prison.

A judge sentenced Vincent Howard to two life sentences.

Howard abducted women on two different occasions in the parking lot of Shands Jacksonville in 2007 and sexually assaulted them.

For the first time since 2007, the frantic 911 call made from one of the victims who was abducted out of the parking lot at Shands Hospital has been released.

911: Ma'am, I need to know where you're at.

Woman: He dropped me off. There's no street signs.

The woman talking to 911 on the phone and her mother were visiting someone at the hospital when they were attacked.

The mother of the victim was helpless as she was forced to watch her own daughter being raped in their car.

The attacker, 29-year-old Vincent Howard, drove to another location and told the women to get out, but not before leaving crucial evidence behind -- DNA.

Six days later, Howard was at it again, targeting a 67-year-old woman in the parking garage at Shands by sneaking up from behind and pushing her into her car.

The woman was forced to perform sex acts on the suspect while he was driving.

Trying to escape, she grabbed at the steering wheel to try to run the car off the road. When that didn't work, she bit him in the arm and then jumped out of a moving vehicle in the middle of Interstate 95.

The woman was run over while trying to get away.

Assistant State Attorney Alan Mizrahi said it was because of the victim's bravery that Howard is now facing two consecutive life sentences.

The woman was able to call police, and it wasn't long before police spotted her stolen car.

"We all owe a debt to this woman," Mizrahi said.

Detectives connected that crime to the mother and daughter abduction that happened days before through DNA.

Even though it's been more than two years since the attacks, the woman who risked her own life to try and get away wanted to face her attacker one last time in court.

"She wanted to express to the defendant she had a lot to overcome but she was still standing and hoped he would never do this to anyone else," Mizrahi said.

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